THE first meeting of the Shadow Dorset Council took place this evening.

The shadow council involves East Dorset District Council, Purbeck District Council, North Dorset District Council and Dorset County Council.

The meeting took place at South Walks House in Dorchester. Around 130 out of 174 members were in attendance.

Dorset County Council chairman Cllr Hilary Cox was confirmed chairman of the shadow council, while Sherborne councillor Peter Shorland was elected vice chairman.

Appointments to committees were made, and members were also asked to approve interim statutory officer recommendations.

Matt Prosser is the interim head of paid service, while interim chief finance officer is Jason Vaughan, and interim monitoring officer is Jonathan Mair.